Terminal (Halo 3): Difference between revisions

====The Origins of forerunners====

In ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'', [[forerunners]] and [[humans]] are separate species, with entirely different backgrounds. [[Human-Forerunner wars|The two species have a long connected history,]] but are ultimately made very distinct. But as revealed by a terminal writing team In the ''Halo 3'' terminals forerunners are a subset of early humans uplifted by a more advanced race of beings (likely the [[Precursors]].{{Ref/Twitter|Id=TerminalIntention|docabominable|1603053863866880000|Paul Russel|Quote=One of the writers said that the (terminal) forerunners were a '…subset of early humans uplifted by another group (the precursors?)'. Also 'I don’t believe that management gave a single shit about any story element...they only cared about shipping a game.'|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} However this idea does somewhat line up with understandings from later media, such as ''[[Halo: Point of Light]]''.

*Bungie was internally split into at least two teams on the relationship of humans and forerunners during the development of ''Halo 3''. According to Paul Russel, The "Game" team seems to have continued the original idea that forerunners are ancient humans as echoed in the original ending for ''[[Halo 2]]'' (described [[Earth Ark#Escaping the Ark|here]]) and Mendicant Bias's statements regarding humanity in ''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]].''{{Ref/Twitter|Id=TerminalsAddPrecorsers|docabominable|1603095968345620480|Paul Russel|Quote=The way I understand it is that the terminal version is the same but adds the precursor angle of selecting a subset of humans to advance.|D=14|M=12|Y=2022}}{{Ref/Twitter|Id=Discrepancy|docabominable|1603050616028368897|Paul Russel|Quote=From what I have gathered by talking to people involved offline: The game and terminal writers were separate teams with overlap; they didn't think the discrepancy would matter; management vetting never read or cared about continuity...|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} However, The "Terminals" team had changed this to be somewhat different,{{Ref/Twitter|Id=TerminalsChange|docabominable|1602455841793347585|Paul Russel|Quote=No, 343 ran with lore developed by Bungie alone. The Forerunners changed for the Halo 3 terminals. I know everyone responsible for that. It was a change that was vetted and approved by Bungie long before 343 was even an idea.|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} adding the idea that forerunners were early humans, but uplifted by a more advanced civilization.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=TerminalIntention}} It is likely that this idea was also used for the ''[[Iris]]'' marketing campaign. Russel has explained "The game and terminal writers were separate teams with overlap; they didn’t think the discrepancy would matter; management vetting never read or cared about continuity; morning bagels were more important than canon." {{Ref/Reuse|Id=Discrepancy}} And ultimately Halo 3 was approved to ship with both versions intact. {{Ref/Twitter|Id=BothApproved|docabominable|1602720596328169475|Paul Russel|Quote=I hoped that came across as MAYBE the discrepancy came up and didn’t seem important against everything happening to get a AAA game out the door. I’m trying to be careful to not put words in others mouths. One thing for sure, H3 shipped with both versions and both were approved.|D=13|M=12|Y=2022}}

**Paul Russel clarified that according to his friend on the terminal writing team the (terminal) forerunners were a "…subset of early humans uplifted by another group (the precursors?)"{{Ref/Reuse|Id=TerminalIntention}} While this explanation was changed in ''[[The Forerunner Saga]]'', it is more in line with the current understanding of the Forerunners and humanity, where they are ultimately separate, but they have similar origins. Through sources like ''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' and the 2022 ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition)|Halo Encyclopedia]]'', Forerunners and humans were revealed to have been evolved from the same base stock by the Precursors.

**While [[Joseph Staten]] wrote ''Halo: Contact Harvest'', he was placed on temporary administrative leave to resolve differences between him and [[Marcus Lehto]].{{Ref/Twitter|Id=AdminLeave|docabominable|1602510864774582272|Paul Russel|Quote=...Joe was on 'administrative leave' when he wrote the book, and wasn’t in the studio during much of H3. He honestly had no position at Bungie at the time and wasn’t privy to what was happening with the terminals...|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}}{{Ref/Twitter|Id=AdminLeave2|docabominable|1602511567307816960|Paul Russel|Quote=See, Marcus had said “him or me” after H2, and Bungie chose Marcus. They put Joe out to pasture to chill, kept him on the payroll to write Contact Harvest, out of the loop.|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} According to Paul Russel, Staten was therefore not privy to what was going on with the decisions made for the terminals, explaining his novel's contradiction with the terminal team's idea on forerunners. Joe Staten later returned to the studio and worked on ''Halo 3's'' story team near the end of development.{{Ref/Twitter|Id=AdminLeave3|docabominable|1602513112850378752|Paul Russel|Quote=To be clear, this wasn't a punishment for Joe. To reduce tension and remind that 'writer' is a position, Rob Stokes led H3's writing team for a bit, then Joe came back at the end for polish and finish. By then differences were settled, heads cooled.|D=18|M=12|Y=2022}} It is possible that Joe was writing on ''Halo 3's'' story with the intention that humans are forerunners, as that would explain certain dialogue from ''Halo 3's'' story implying so. However, it is ultimately not known exactly what stance he may have taken on the team.